Judaism

Torah

Did God Give Balaam the Grace to Utter Truth?

Local

Death as a Constant Part of Life

Torah

Is Golan Heights Part of Holy Land?

Passover

Finding Unleavened Heaven

By:

Edmon J. Rodman

Los Angeles In every generation, the Haggadah tells us, the wise, the simple, the non-askers and even the baddies are obligated to see themselves as though they themselves actually had come out from Egypt. Unfortunately, the closest many of us come to this ideal is a stroll through the Passover aisle of our neighborhood supermarket. Why does Passover have to...

Passover

Springing into Passover

By:

Leah Koenig, JTA

One of the secrets about the Jewish calendar is that many of the holidays have agricultural subtexts, which over time have been muted or lost completely under the historical and religious themes that were layered on top of them. Two of these -- Sukkot and Shavuot -- have maintained a relatively transparent relationship to their earthy roots. But finding the...

Local

Reconstructionist Entities to Merge

After nearly two years of merger talks, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote and the Jenkintown-based Jewish Reconstructionist Federation have officially agreed to combine and form one organization. The final step in the process came at a Philadelphia meeting on Sunday. Delegates from the 105 congregations affiliated with the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation voted overwhelmingly in favor of the move. The...

Torah

Transforming Houses Into Safe, Holy Spaces

METZORA, Leviticus 14:1-15:33

By:

Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell

Each of us remembers the houses and the neighborhoods in which we spent our childhoods. We learned where we were welcome to go trick or treating on Halloween, and which families greeted us warmly when, each spring, we walked from door to door taking orders for Girl Scout cookies. On my street, there was one house we always avoided, crossing...

Local

Orthodox Congregations Seek to Attract Families

By:

Bryan Schwartzman

Two Philadelphia-area Orthodox congregations are hoping to entice young, observant families to relocate from the New York metropolitan region and help grow their respective communities. Congregation Beth Hamedrosh in Wynnewood and Congregation Sons of Israel in Cherry Hill, N.J., each sent a delegation to the March 27 "Emerging Jewish Communities Home and Job Relocation Fair" at the Grand Hyatt hotel...